Things that used to be...

It's birthday week...time to look back at old photos and recall fond memories...

This is my father, me and my sister, 1957, Lake Breeze Motel, Erie, PA.

My father passed away 5 years ago, my sister has been gone for 10, but what memories! Those vacations, less than 100 miles from home that lasted less than a week, felt like month long trips to some exotic port, far, far from home!

My parents would talk for weeks, facts and trivia about our destination. We planned, made mental lists of things to look for, things to do. Mom always made sure we looked our best, Dad always took time to show us odd things.

I know that we were poor, that my parents had to save and save for these trips and that every penny was hard earned...but oh, so worth it.

Beer budget with Champagne memories!

Let's talk about July, shall we?

July was busy too...we usually have a big picnic in July, but this year we had too many graduations and graduation parties, so we just moved into July with what Mark considered one of the biggest moments of his life: His 2003 Honda Civic went fromto

Yes, 200,000 miles and it still looks great, doesn't it?
It probably seems a little strange that I was there in the car, with camera ready, for this big event...and even stranger that he had one of our sons on the phone to listen to him cheer as it turned over 200,000 miles, but that's my hubby...

Mark celebrated the big 5-OH! Yes, he has more miles on him than the Honda, but he looks just as good, doesn't he?
Before you ask, I will tell you, he did have a case of middle-age-crazies, or a mid-life-crisis. Instead of the Harley (that he wanted to buy) or the bikini underwear (that I was willing to buy for him) or the young, skinny girlfriend that he knew better than to find, he decided that he wanted this:
a jet ski! Of course, the kids loved it!

Of course, we spent every spare minute on the river, which made us realize we needed a place on the river...YES! So we found a place to call home, on the Kiskiminetas, or Kiski, River! We moved the motor home up there for the summer, and from then on, if you wanted to find us, we were at the river!



Also in July, I took my niece and her friend out for our first annual girls overnighter. We went to the water and amusement park in Erie, PA, for two days. The girls had a ball!
After being around the guys for all those years, I didn't realize how much fun a bunch of girls could be...we giggled most of the night and enjoyed the beach the next day.
She's the first local girl in the family since my daughter was born in 1970! My late sister's daughter is now 30 but she has always lived on the west coast, so we got to see her once a year.
We are really enjoying having her around. She keeps us all on our toes!

I bought myself a new camera for my birthday. I think my family wished I hadn't. Nothing was safe. I photographed EVERYTHING (as you will see in the next few days). Check it out:


Don't say it...I know...amazing!

Wow, I can't wait to show you what we did in August...come back tomorrow and see!

I'm having a ball, hope you are enjoying yourself as well!